The Key of the Underworld
by darksnowx1
Summary: While the seven are in Europe doing their stuff, three new demigods set out on the quest to restore order in the Underworld. However things go wrong pretty quickly and they must stop the world from being overrun by the dead. My first fanfic so bear with me.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, this is my first fanfiction so forgive me for the average piece of writing that you shall (hopefully) start reading now. **

Before he fell into a pit of fire, Ryan had already figured out he was pretty much dead. He sprinted towards the big house. Behind him, a giant dragon gave chase. He didn't know why it would want to pick on him. Seriously, what did he ever do to it? He stumbled over a log. Behind him, the dragon spat out a plume of fire. Ryan instinctively dove to the side as flames roasted the tree ahead of him. A dryad scurried out of the branches on fire and yelled curses at the monster. Ryan hoped that they were real curses. He saw the big house loom up ahead and decided that he had a chance. The dragon for some reason decided otherwise. As he ran into the centre of camp, campers scattered in all directions, screaming and/or on fire. The dragon however felt that Ryan would be the tastiest and used its claws to grab onto him, lifting him into the air.

Luckily for him, he had a sword. It was made of celestial bronze and even though it was way too heavy for him, he liked it. He unsheathed the blade and pointed it at the monster's face. "Let me down or I give you a sword point to the face! I will destroy you!" The two beady eyes tilted towards him. Then the dragon blew out an inferno of fire, singing his shoes. Ryan's sword clattered onto the ground. So much for destroying. Ryan was beginning to feel increasingly worried when he heard the distinct sound of metal on scales. He looked down and his heart soared. Two demigods had actually decided come to his rescue. And not any demigods either. They were the girls who accompanied him to the camp. Heather sprang at the lizard slashing her sword at it. She was a daughter of Hecate. He auburn hair twirled as she attacked. "Hang in there!" she yelled at him. She stabbed at the dragon's body and it stumbled, blood seeping out of a wound. Another blade slammed into the monster and it let out a cry of pain and almost dropped Ryan. He saw a girl with jet black silky hair and a small lithe complexion. It was May, the daughter of Hades. Ever since they met, she made him feel uncomfortable. After finding out that she could control dead people and teleport, he felt a bit…disturbed. He always tried to keep a distance. Last time he tried to socially interact with her he asked her if she was born in May. It didn't go down well. His face still sometimes hurt from that.

Anyway, he watched as she ducked under a blow from the giant fire lizard and sliced at its legs, the Stygian Iron cutting through it. She wasn't so lucky the next time. The tail caught her cleanly by the chest and she was sent flying into the lake. It started to go downhill from there. The monster squeezed harder at Ryan making him wince. Heather fell and the dragon rushed towards her, probably to eviscerate her. Not good.  
At that moment, a flash of movement at the corner of his eye diverted his attention. A figure had appeared behind the monster and its cold dark eyes rested on Ryan. He didn't really have time to decide on why a guy in dark robes would suddenly materialise when his partner was about to be disembowelled by a fifty tonne fire breathing reptile (dragons are reptiles, I believe). "Dude, care to help?" Ryan yelled out at the guy. The dark eyes glinted and a shockwave hit Ryan so hard he doubled over and fell to the ground. Next to him, the dragon disintegrated in a sorrowful howl. The shockwave felt so cold, so empty, and so hopeless. He finally looked up to see the dark robed guy approaching. He was about his age, late teens, but had dark eyes that pierced and seemed to bear centuries worth of sights. Yet at the same time, he was good looking and he noticed May and several other girls blushing. He turned back to the figure. "Who are you?" he asked.  
The figure smiled coldly again. "I am the god of the underworld. I am Hades."

In hindsight, Ryan could really have thought carefully before he opened his mouth. But what he said was, "Uh… so you're about a million years old or something…right?"  
Some of the other campers looked at him as if waiting for him to turn into pond slime. Hades just laughed, a deep cold laugh that didn't bring mirth but instead sorrow. "Apollo and his children," he chuckled. "All so dumb. I can be any age I like. And recently I've found it a good idea to be in my youth, when Hades and Pluto were the same thing so I don't have to…"  
He saw May. She inched back, her hand quivering. All the other campers stared in abject terror. Ryan didn't know much about the god of the underworld but judging from everyone's faces, he was pretty feared.  
"Come here, my girl," he smiled encouragingly at her. She moved forwards but Ryan guessed that it was because Hades was making her.  
"Um… Lord Hades….I mean, dad…."  
Hades flicked his hand dismissively. "Weird calling a guy younger than you dad eh?" May looked like she had just been punched by a hyperborean giant. Ryan felt a nagging pity for her. It must be so awkward having her dad turn up. Hades continued. "Anyway, I am here because the underworld is a mess right now. Riots, disappearing prisoners, everything is going wrong. And something is telling me you can fix that."  
May looked as if she had just been stung. "How. Exactly. Do I do that?"  
Hades shrugged. "I dunno. All I know is that you are going to lead a quest to reach the underworld and then do what you can to tidy things up."  
"B-but.."  
"I know, I have no idea how but I'm desperate too. Having the dead in riot is never a good thing."  
Ryan pipped in. "So you're just going to let her stroll into the underworld and somehow fix things."  
"No, insolent kid. I'm not that dumb." Hades turned back to May. "Put that kid on the quest would you?"  
"So, uh, dad, what should I do?"  
"Hah. You know the doors to the underworld right? Not in Greece, the other one. When you get to the underworld, you must find the dark sapphire. No, it's not blue, it's black. I suspect that's what's making the borders of the underworld slight…fuzzy. Anyway, Zeus is probably going to kill me so, um, bye!"

Hades vanished in a ball of dark light.  
"I don't really like that guy," said Ryan.  
"How do you get killed by Zeus if you're the god of death?" wondered May out aloud.  
"Is it just me or is your father sooo hot?" breathed Heather.  
Ryan mimicked throwing up behind Heather. Sometimes, girls didn't make any sense.  
"Anyway, you sure you can handle the task? I'm coming with you by the way," Heather said.  
"Trust me, I'm okay," said May with gritted teeth and Ryan suspected that she was not fine, and it wasn't only because of having to go into the underworld.

**Okay, that chapter didn't go exactly great but still, not too bad I guess. Chapter 2 is a bit darker but hope you enjoyed reading this chapter :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, congrats if you managed to get through the last chapter! Well, this one is a bit darker but anyway, read it! Note: I am new to so if you find anything weird with my stuff and or spelling mistakes, tell me. I'm not earning any money off this and I don't own this series etc. etc. but yeah, ignore my aimless rambling and hopefully read the chapter. **

May was talking with Chiron.  
"You sure I could shadow travel all that way?" she asked.  
The old centaur sighed. "You should be okay. Besides, there is no other real way to get to the underworld. Well, you could jump off a building…"  
"Uh, seriously?"  
"…but that would be a one way journey. No, it's best to shadow travel."  
May looked up. "Last time didn't go that well," she pointed out.  
"You only ended up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."  
"I was aiming for Brazil!"  
"Your half-brother Nico kept missing and ending up in China."  
"But he was trying to get to North Korea for the bragging rights! That's only a couple hundred kilometres off! I was twelve thousand!"  
Chiron stopped. "May. You have to believe in yourself. I noticed that the more disheartened you are, the further you get from your target."  
May slumped. "I don't think I can do it."  
"All heroes say that."  
"And what could I do if I do reach the underworld."  
The centaur pursed his lips. "That I cannot say. All I can say is that many heroes before you have become legends though they started in the same situation as you. May Li, I hope you can succeed."

May walked away, still feeling uncertain. How could she reach the doors to the underworld which was on the other side of the Earth? She started thinking of other solutions. Hades was the god of anything below ground so could she go straight down? (**A/N many people think that if you dig straight down you will get to China. Actually, you don't. You end up in the Indian Ocean near Australia if you live on the eastern seaboard. Anyway I gave away spoiler for where the gates to the underworld are**) She glimpsed the dark façade of the Hades cabin and focused her energy on its front doorstep. She felt her whole body dissolving into dust and she re-emerged inside the Athena cabin. Cursing, she walked out and strolled across the grass to the Hades cabin. She pulled open the huge wrought iron doors and went inside.

It was dark, bleak and a sad place. The hopeless feeling of the underworld reached her. The cabin was much bigger on the inside than what it seemed on the outside, magic, she suspected. It was a circular shape with five beds surrounding the sides. In the centre was a huge statue of her father in old man form. It was almost pitch dark with but her night vision set in almost immediately. _Do you deserve to be here? _A familiar voice said in her head. She swore and plopped down on her bed, the one furthest from the entrance. She lay there staring up at the ceiling where thunder and lightning occasionally lit up. She felt like a failure. Ryan was in the clutches of the dragon and what did she do? She got swiped aside by the dragon's tail. She sighed. She was so lame! She rolled over to the side and stared at the carved etchings on the wall. Ever since she arrived at Camp Half Blood she was treated as an anomaly, a stranger, and a person who should have never existed. But at the bottom of her heart, she knew that she ought to be cast out. She thought back in time.

* * *

"Wait, you're saying that I'm a demigod?" The younger May stared at the girl before her. _So the stories are true…_she thought.  
"Yes! Believe me! They're coming for you!" pleaded the girl.  
"Was this why you were friends with me? Was everything just an act for me to come with you?"  
"Pleease! May, they are not going to spare you." The girl tugged at her shirt and she reluctantly started running. They were too late. A flash, no, a _bolt _of blue struck the girl and she fell to the ground. May froze in horror. _What have I done? _Before she could think any more, she too fell to the ground and the world turned upside down.

She remembered herself at the underworld, before three judges, their gold masks eerie in the dim light. They studied her carefully. The centre one spoke.  
"May Li," it mused. "Daughter of Hades, had herself and her friend killed from her stubbornness. I'm sorry but it has to be Fields of Punishments for you."  
And from there she was carted deeper into the underworld. She didn't remember much from here (and she suspected that her mind was wiped on purpose) but all she remembered was the burning hot pokers and the agony. Oh, the agony! However, one day, she received a letter supposedly from her father, Hades. She was sent to the Fields of Asphodel which were not much better. It was outright depressing, figures chattering away confusedly. Finally, one day she saw a figure not deluded by the mist. The figure noticed her too. "Hello," the figure said. "Daughter of Pluto?"  
May blinked. "Pluto? I thought he was Hades."  
The figure clicked her fingers. "Ah. Greek girl." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Hazel, daughter of your father's Roman form. I can get you out of here."

.

* * *

A loud knocking on the door woke May up from her memories. The knocking persisted and she knew that only one person would do that. "Come in," she called lazily. Heather and Ryan walked in shuddering from the cold.  
"Really May…how _do _you cope with all this cold?" Heather said.  
"Ugh, reminds me of death and despair," added Ryan.  
May smiled coldly. "Well, I guess this is what I deserve."

Ryan shifted nervously. "So…you've finished packing your stuff?"  
May spat. "Styx! Give me a moment…" She reached for the chest at the corner of the room and started quickly pulling clothes out and dumping them in her bag.

"You know where we're headed for?" asked Heather. "I mean, where are we entering the underworld?"  
May looked up briefly. "Turkmenistan," she muttered.  
"Lol, wot?" said Ryan. May couldn't blame him. Out of all the places…  
"So you know what you're going to do?" continued Ryan. "I don't want to just end up being enslaved by some powerful deity."  
May rolled her eyes. "Make it up as well go along."

"Shall we go now?" invited Heather. May grimaced. "Fine. But let me warn you, my aiming sucks."  
The other girl placed her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry! Believe in yourself!"  
May didn't like being told some pre-schooler's motto but grudgingly held their hands. Ryan was muttering something about dictators and deserts but May shut him up effectively with a pointed glance. Anyway…  
"Here we go. Three…Two…One…"  
The world went black and they travelled through darkness.

**Yeah. **

**I know, I might have rushed writing this chapter so isn't as good as I had hoped. Well, that's all I got around to writing for this chapter. Reviews are welcome and hopefully I can attempt the third chapter if you give me enough motivation (reviews)(Views).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah…finally chapter 3 is up. Phew.  
The chapter was originally meant to be longer but I cut it in half and now the other half will be Chapter 4. So now its really short since I don't want to spend most of my time editing like I did with the last chapter. **

**Chapter is in the point of view of Heather. **

Heather awoke to find herself in a desert. She breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she thought that May would miss completely and put them in the Himalayas. But she was in a desert so that was a good start. She felt at the fine sands beneath her. They were dry as bones. She then looked around for her companions. May was easy to find. She was sprawled on the ground next to her, panting. "You okay?" Heather asked. May weakly nodded and passed out. Heather wanted to go and help but knew that she couldn't do anything. The children of Hades needed time to recover after shadow travelling.

Heather then scanned the area again, this time looking for Ryan. He was much harder to find. His arm stuck out from the sand and she heard muffled yelling underneath. She sighed happily. That kid. She turned as May got up behind her. "Desert. Sand. Urgh, good I guess," she groaned. She brushed off the dust and strolled casually over to Ryan and held his hand. The two vanished and then reappeared several metres away. "Aim for a more empty place next time?" he grumbled and Heather giggled.  
May merely shrugged. "Do you know where are we?"  
Heather looked around. Even though they were in a desert, they were not entirely in the middle of nowhere. Not far away, a road cut across the barren wilderness and a faint glow emanated from nearby. Wait…was it coming from a hole in ground? It definitely seemed like it. May cleared her throat and spoke. "Ahem, we are looking for a giant fire crater. It's, uh…big, fiery and…well, it's impossible to miss but the desert's huge."  
Heather stared. "It that it over there?" she said pointing.  
May brushed her hand aside. "No, its…" She paled. "T-that's impossible…" she stammered. She reached into her bag, looking for her phone.  
Heather smiled and placed her arms around her. "See what would happen if you believed in yourself? That was absolutely awesome!"

Heather confirmed that it was the right place using the GPS on her phone.  
"Wait, you can get internet here?" asked Heather, wide eyed.  
May grinned. "HermesNet 5G can get connection anywhere, though its only two bars here. They even say you can get it over in Tartarus."

The three approached the fire pit. May explained that it was one of the less known but more effective ways to get to the underworld. Heather felt that a firey pit that went to the underworld wouldn't be safe to hang around but May insisted it was. "Regular mortal tourists come here a lot," she pointed out. They reached the edge of the pit. It was amazing. The hole was completely filled up with flames. The heat from the fire within was immense. Imagine standing next to a bonfire. Yes, that feeling. The crater was just amazing. It was like those movies, where there are lava pits. Except here it was a pit filled with fire. "Darvaza crater," muttered May wide eyed. "The doors to hell."

They stood there silently, May looking increasingly troubled. "What is it?" asked Heather gently. Ryan also pipped in. "Hey Seppie, what now?"  
May looked up, eyes burning with malice. "Never. Call. Me. That. Anyway, what we have to do is jump in and we end up in the underworld."  
Heather stared. "You were told this? You sure that 'ending up in the underworld' is not 'getting incinerated and dying and getting a one way trip there'?"  
"Only one way to find out."  
Ryan eyed the fire nervously. She could tell that he did not entirely trust May. She realised that she didn't either. May smiled and took their hands. Before she could say or do anything, May pulled them into the fire pit.

**I know, this was a really short chapter. I might merge this with chapter 4 but it depends on how long c4 is. **

**Story by Darksnowx1, however the demigod world that this story is based on is not by me though I'm not earning money off this or anything so it doesn't really matter.  
**


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